Titles I happened to check out on Netflix in the month of September 2014 listed from best to worst:
Minority Report (2002, 145 Minutes, PG-13) gets better year after year! There is more to look at in five minutes than most five hundred movies stacked together. Tom Cruise is chief of the Pre-Crime division in the year 2054. There have been no murders in six years since all premeditated murders have ceased. Then Cruise himself goes on the lam when accused. The technology of the film is dazzling and ahead of its time. The action is original, loaded with suspenseful showstoppers. Some have balked at its soft[er] climax, that it would have been more uncompromising had it ended earlier. But I think some of have underappreciated its wit and visual ingenuity in these closing scenes. This fantastic Steven Spielberg film, by the way, is based on one of Philip K. Dick’s worst written short stories – the film is a leap in improvement over the unwieldy source material. A
SCI-FI / RACE AGAINST THE CLOCK THRILLER / MASTERPIECE VIEWING
Blow Out (1981, 108 Minutes, R) with zero Oscar nominations the year of its release has since gained classic status. This is one of the most watchable of director Brian DePalma’s conspiracy murder thrillers with John Travolta as a B-movie soundman who pastes together incidental recorded sound with still photographs to reconstruct a crime scene. He befriends a dim-bulb prostitute (Nancy Allen), accessory to the crime, who becomes the target of a hitman (John Lithgow). The film is known for its surprise finale, but to me, it’s just a little over-the-top. Still, DePalma delivers sleazy, debased excitement. A-
SUSPENSE / ADULT ORIENTATION / LATE NIGHT THRILLS
From Beyond (1986, 85 Minutes, R) is a super-gross Halloween time entertainment that has been unfairly neglected – perhaps the bland title hasn’t given this flick longevity. Creatures from another dimension invade our own, and a cast of scientists, psychologists and a detective are no match for them. The special effects and cinematography are whacked. Directed by Stuart Gordon (“Re-Animator”). Much bloody body obliteration. B
HORROR / CREATURE FEATURE / LATE NIGHT CHILLS
Love Jones (1997, 110 Minutes, R) has built quite a reputation in recent years. There is an uncommon amount of intelligent dialogue between the two middle-class black artists (Larenz Tate and Nia Long). But if I’m less enthused, it’s due to the obligatory second act obstacles that keep movie couples apart. Still, there are unique writing and directing qualities here. B
ROMANTIC DRAMA / ADULT ORIENTATION / LATE NIGHT CUDDLE MOVIE
Mermaids (1990, 110 Minutes, PG-13) is a decent girly movie with Winona Ryder as a chaste Catholic girl whose loins explode when she meets a hot guy next door (Michael Schoeffing) in 1963 Massachusetts. Sure he’s hot, but he never says anything interesting. Cher plays Ryder’s total opposite tramp mother who partially settles down with sensitive Bob Hoskins. I liked watching it because Ryder looks totally hot as a good girl fighting her internal feelings of shame. B-
ROMANTIC DRAMA / CHICK FLICK / AFTERNOON COUCH MOVIE
The Man From Elysian Fields (2001, 106 Minutes, R) has Andy Garcia as a writer who becomes a reluctant gigolo, and becomes a full-time service companion to a rich married woman (Olivia Williams) who is married to a bigheaded old dying man (James Coburn) who actually likes having this gigolo around. It’s so damn good for such a long while that it’s a tad of a letdown that it caves down into feelings of “guilt” and “remorse.” B-
DRAMA / ADULT ORIENTATION / LATE NIGHT CURIO
The Rover (2014, 102 Minutes, R) is a played-straight, neo-realist post-apocalyptic scenario in Australia with Guy Pearce who might have once been a reasonable man. Now he is tracking three men who stole his car. Starts well, but the midsection slumbers. Robert Pattinson, as a mentally slow gang member, gives a convincing performance but not an interesting one. I wanted Pearce to ditch him. C+
SUSPENSE / CEREBRAL THRILLS / LATE NIGHT CURIO
The Quiet Earth (1985, 91 Minutes, R) is another post-apocalyptic Australian thriller. It almost has the main character committing suicide when he considers he can’t handle being the last man on Earth. He’s played by Bruno Lawrence who isn’t bad, but isn’t memorable either. He meets a woman which relieves his loneliness, but finds himself competing for her when one more man enters the picture. There is some peculiar, if stunning imagery. But there is some frustrating narrative murkiness involving a science lab that might cause a second wipe-out of the rest of Earth’s survivors. The movie is half interesting. C
SUSPENSE / POST-APOCALYPSE / LATE NIGHT CURIO
Get Carter (1971, 112 Minutes, R) is a chore. I know it has quite a reputation as this British down and dirty underground crime movie. But the dialogue is indecipherable warble, and the cutting jumps around frantically without purpose. Michael Caine is cool, a snide anti-hero. But aside from Caine, the rest is exhausting. C
CRIME DRAMA / BRITISH / LATE NIGHT THRILLS
Walk of Shame (2014, 95 Minutes, R) is a bottom five movie of the year. Elizabeth Banks actually tries too hard to be a funny comedienne – it’s embarrassing. She gets mistaken for a hooker or junkie like a dozen times while she tries throughout the night to get her car back. It’s almost amusing at how unfunny it all is. D
COMEDY / BAD MOVIES WE HATE / SATURDAY NIGHT DUMPSVILLE
